Air-moistening structure for hot-air furnaces



E. G. LIEBOLD.

AIR MOISTENING STRUCTURE FOR HOT AIRFURNACES;

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19. I920.

1,380,532 1 Patemed May 31, 1921.

anvwtoi elf towe PATENT orrlcs.

ERNEST G. LIEBO LD, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

. AIR-MOISTENING STRUCTURE FOR HOT-AIR FURNACES.

Application filed January 19, 1920. Serial No. 352,504.

To all whom it may concern) l Be it known that I, .EnNns'r Gr, LIEBQLD, a citizen of the United States of -America,

. residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne container is practically in a static condition and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Air- Moistening Structures for Hot- Air Furnaces, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein 'to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in air-moistening structures for hot air furnaces, pertaining more particularly to structures adapted to maintain a constant supply of moistening fluid within the furnace.-

It is the general practice to provide hot air furnaces with a suitable containergenerally .accessible from the exterior of the furnace-into ,which a moistening fluid, such for instance, as water, is introduced, the container being opened in such manner that the fluid can be taken up in the form of moisture by the heated air, the supply being provided from the exposed surface of the fluid, the latter evaporating in the presence of such air- .Owing to the fact that evaporation takes place, certain conditions are brought about. For instance, greater. efficiency is provided where the water surface is readily accessible to the flowingair, this being provided by having the water surface close to the open top of the container. However, as evaporation proceeds, the level of the water passes downward, thus taking the level away from its accessibility to the flowing air, making it more diflicult to evaporate.

In addition,- such evaporation generally leaves sediment deposits on the side walls of the container and when a new supply of water is produced there is more or less contamination, etc.; this tendency is produced by the fact that the water contents of the throughout the period of operation. Of course, where attention is not materially paid to the replenishment of the moistening fluid, there is a gradual evaporation until the container is entirely empty, thus requiring more or less supervision of the general operation.

The present invention is designed to meet these different conditions by providing means which will practically maintain the water level within the container at an approximately constant level, thus tending to maintain the accessibility of the fluid level Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Way 31, 1921.

'- to the flowing air, and tending to relieve somewhat the static condition of the water contents by introducing new fluid whenever there is material evaporation which would change the normal and desired water level. In addition, theinvention is designed to provide for an automatic control for the main tenance of this water level at approximately a constant plane, and at thesame time provide a sufficlent supply which will require replenishment only at long intervals; in this connection, the arrangement may be such as to 1 provide also for an automatic replenishment of the supply, thus also eliminating the necessity for even this infrequent manual control.

Other objects are to provide a construct1on and arrangement of parts which are simple and efficient in operation durable in which will be readily understood as the invention is hereinafter disclosed, said invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts in each of the views,-

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a hot air furnace with a device according to the present invention installed therein, parts being shown in section and parts being broken away for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the construction employed;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through the supply structure and showing a modified arrangement. 1

. -windicates a hot air furnace of any usual or preferred design, the particular' flaring construction, this providing a container formation having the liquid receiving space formed to .increase the surface area of the liquid as the container is filled. As a result of such an arrangement, it is possible to provide for a comparatively large surface exposure of the water comparatively close to the top plane of the container without requiring .a large container. Obviously, the greater the amount of surface of water exposed, the greater is the possibility of evaporation, and hence a more efficient moisture producing action.

The container 10 may be mounted in an desired manner and may, if desired, be read ily removed, tilted or employ any of the well known ways in which containers for this purpose are supported, removability being employed for the purpose of cleaning out deposits, at stated intervals or whenever found necessary.

The present invention is designed to main tain the water level of the container approximately on a constant plane, and this is provided by the use of an external supply tank 11 which has an operative connection to the interior of the container for the purpose of maintaining this level, this connection being in the form of a pipe 12 lead,- ing from the bottom of the tank 11 and a plipe 13 leading from the top of such tank.

either of the pipes 12 or 13 have any direct connection in the container, the pipe 12 having its outlet end adjacent the bottom of the container 10, while pipe 13 has its through pipe 12. When, however, the water level reaches a point to seal the open end of the ,pipe 13; this entrance of air is prevented andfurther material supply of water is prevented.

s will be understood, the water level within the container may not be exactly upon the level of the lower open end of pipe 13, since the small head of water within the tank may tend to provide a small additional supply to produce an efficient seal at theopen end of pipe 13, so that there may be a slight variation in the water level within container 10, as the evaporation proceeds to a point where the lower open end of the pipe 13 is again unsealed whereupon a new supply of air is providedfor the tank and the .water level again raised to produce a sealed condition. This more or less intermittent action of the admission of air into pipe 13 tends to set up a flow action within the container itself, and since the outlet of the water within the container isapproximately at the bottom of the container, it will be readily understood that this tends to disturb any tendency to static condition of the water, and thus tend to break up the production of a film on the surface of the water through the deposit of impurities of the heated air.

If desired, the supply of water for tank 11 may be from city mains through a pipe 14, a three-way valve structure 15 being employed to control the flow of water into the tank or out of the tank,depending upon the position of the valve. As the tank is of a size to hold a considerable quantity of water, it will be readily understood that the manipulation of the valve 15 is required only atinfrequent intervals, and this admis-' sion may also tend to set up action within the container through the fact that a replenishment of the supply within the tank 11 necessarily serves to drive out such air as may be contained therein and which must pass out in order to permitof the entrance of the water, this air necessarily .is discha-rgedIthrOugh the pipe 13, thus disturbing the water in the container. As a result the static condition ofthe water contents of the container 10 is relieved at frequent intervals and therefore tends to provide for more efficient operation Within the furnace, since the surface exposure is maintained practically clear from the collection of impurities, so that the evaporation action can be had with maximum efliciency.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrateda more or less diagrammatic view of a possible variation or modification, in that the valve structure 15,

may be substituted by an automatically operated valve controlled by a float 16, the latter being made active in the manipulation of the valve-indicated at 15 by the rise and fall of the water content of tank 11.

It will be understood, of course, that the disclosure of Fig. 2 is simply illustrative of other well known types of flow-controllin structures operative on a valve and whicfi may be employed. As will .be understood there is somewhat of alag in action, so that the delivery of water from the tank to the container is periodical rather than constant so that there is produced this result of rendering the water content of the container less static.

While I have herein shown and described one or more Ways in which the present invention may be carried out,it will be understood that changes, or modifications, therein may be found desirable or essential in meeting the 'various exigencies of use, and I desire to be understood as reserving the right to make any and all such changes or modifications as may be found desirable or necessary,in so far as the same may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims when broadly construed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. In air moistening means for hot air furnaces, an open-top container accessible to the flowing heated air of the furnace, a supply tank external of the furnace, and having a supply pipe leading therefrom to a point adjacent the bottom of the container, and a control pipe leading from the top of the tank and opening into the container at a point spaced above the plane of the discharge end of the supply pipe, the spacing distance being greater than the distance} between such discharge end and the container bottom to produce a liquid content within the container above such discharge end sufficient to cause disturbance of such content substantially throughout the container and eliminate static conditions within furnaces, an open-top container accessible to the flowing heated air of the furnace, a supply tank external of the furnace, and having a supply pipe leading therefrom to a point adjacent the bottom of the container, and a control pipe leading from the top of the tank and opening into the container at a point spaced above the plane of the discharge end of the supply pipe, the spacing distance being greater than the distance between such dlscharge end and the container bottom to produce a liquid content within the container above such discharge end suflicient to cause disturbance of such content substantially throughout the container and eliminate static conditions within the container by the delivery of liquid at such dis charge end, said tank being positioned above the plane of the liquid level produced by the action of the control pipe, and means for connecting the tank to a fluid supply to produce a pressure delivery to the tank.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST G. LIEBOLD.

Witnesses FRANK CAMPSALL. CHARLES A. JOHNSON. 

